The Internet is filled with lists, many of them dubious, including CareerCast.com's Best and Worst Jobs of 2012-13, which was just released. CareerCast ranks 200 jobs, from best to worst, and the top 100 features many positions in science, engineering and medicine, which will be of interest to readers locally. But the website's criteria is limited in scope, and a bit odd: Physical demands, work environment, income, stress, and hiring outlook. CareerCast apparently doesn't take into account such things as job satisfaction. And I suspect that CareerCast actually knows very little about the work environment of biomedical engineers and physicists, or even a dental hygienist.

As for the ranking of newspaper reporter ... we're at the bottom, again. This time, we're behind lumberjacks. I have nothing against lumberjacks or dental hygients or parole officers. But job rankings are a matter of personal perspective. I'd put reporter in the top 10. We're definitely above audiologists.